Macroalgae Butanol
Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (DuPont) and Bio Architecture Lab, Inc. (BAL) are exploring the commercial viability of producing fuel-grade isobutanol from macroalgae (seaweed). Making macroalgae an attractive substrate for biofuel applications however, will require continued technology development. Assuming these developments are successful, initial assessments suggest macroalgae aquafarming in our oceans has the potential to produce a feedstock with cost in the same range as terrestrial-based substrates (crop residuals, energy crops) and may be the feedstock of choice in some locations. The use of macroalgae also diversifies the sources of U.S. biomass in order to provide more options in meeting demand for biofuels. The process being developed will use a robust industrial biocatalyst (microorganism) capable of converting macroalgal-derived sugars directly into isobutanol. Biobutanol is an advanced biofuel with significant advantages over ethanol, including higher energy content, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and the ability to be blended in gasoline at higher levels than ethanol without changes to existing automobiles or the fuel industry infrastructure. Butamax™ is currently commercializing DuPont’s biobutanol fermentation technology that uses sugar and starch feedstocks.
- Research Organization:
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
- OSTI ID:
- 1046709
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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